Hospitals that struggle in performance management often have apparently unrelated circumstances. Are there communication issues? Client service concerns? Training deficits? Not managing performance means employees are not given a chance to make changes, and it means that issues in the hospital are unlikely to be resolved.
When we compare hospitals that struggle with performance management, they often have unrelated circumstances. Are there communication issues? Client service concerns? Training deficits?
After experiencing stagnant growth over the prior two years, this hospital came to us with a myriad of concerns. Their practice manager and owner were both passive and did not hold employees accountable—their inconsistency was demonstrated in a scenario where they acknowledged three “problem” employees, yet for these aforementioned employees’ performance evaluations, they said they were “excellent.” They also experienced problems with their senior staff refusing to train their junior staff, with no repercussions.
On top of these concerns, their staff survey also highlighted their many problems:
Not managing performance means employees are not given a chance to make changes, and it means that issues in the hospital are unlikely to be resolved. Accountability, for everyone from the top to the bottom, is imperative to creating a respectful, responsible and nourishing culture.
After reviewing this hospital’s many problems, our HR and Training Manager developed a concise plan of action that was tailored to their specific needs. We first worked with their practice owner and manager and taught them all about the tenets of compassionate, yet firm leadership. This included instructing them on how to develop and implement a disciplinary points system to create instant accountability. We then educated them on the principles of effective performance management, which helped this hospital phase out their problematic employees.
To further nurture their staff environment and to boost their morale and team communication, we established a brief-meeting protocol in which each team member met with the practice manager at least once a month. This served as a check-in of sorts, where problems were solved, and questions were answered. Eventually, we oversaw a transition where this went from team members meeting with staff managers to team members meeting with their supervisors (since the practice kept growing). We finally helped them arrange a problem-solving strategy to ensure communication and explanation for leadership actions on issues.
After partnering with iVET360, this practice eventually doubled over the course of three years. A more recent staff survey revealed their improvements:
+ There was a 10 percent increase in staff members who felt that problems were dealt with effectively.
+ 91 percent of the staff felt that morale was good.
+ Regarding accountability, their results doubled regarding team members being held accountable.
